Infectious diseases still represent a major challenge for humanity. In this context, their surveillance is critical. From 2010 to 2016, two Point-Of-Care (POC) laboratories have been successfully implemented in the rural Saloum region of Senegal. In parallel, a homemade syndromic surveillance system called EPIMIC was implemented to monitor infectious diseases using data produced by the POC laboratory of the Timone hospital in Marseille, France. The aim of this study is to describe the steps necessary for implementing EPIMIC using data routinely produced by two POC laboratories (POC-L) established in rural Senegal villages...

BACKGROUND: Challenges to ensuring timely linkage to and retention in HIV care are well documented. Combination intervention strategies can be effective in improving the HIV care continuum. Data on feasibility and acceptability of intervention types within intervention packages are limited. METHODS: The Engage4Health study assessed the effectiveness of a combination intervention strategy to increase linkage and retention among adults newly diagnosed with HIV in Mozambique...

Infectious disease point-of-care test (ID-POCT) devices are becoming widely available, and in this respect, international quality standards and guidelines are available for consultation once ID-POCT has been implemented into medical institutions. However, specific guidelines for consultation during the initial pre-implementation decision-making process are currently lacking. Further, there exist pre-implementation issues specific to ID-POCT. Here we present pre-implementation guidelines for consultation when considering the implementation of ID-POCT in medical institutions...

One third of all hepatitis C virus (HCV) cases in the United States are incarcerated in jails and prisons. Hepatitis C virus testing is primarily accomplished through a clinical laboratory, yet point-of-care (POC) testing is less invasive and results are available in 20 minutes compared with up to 3 weeks. The purpose of this article was to describe the findings of a collaborative project between the Colleges of Engineering and Nursing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in executing a human factors study for HCV antibody testing and screening...

Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) has the potential to become a new diagnostic tool for malaria and other diseases. For point-of-care testing, the use of ATR-FTIR in malaria diagnosis enables the analysis of blood in the aqueous state, which represents an enormous advantage by minimising the sample preparation by removing the need for cell fixation. Here we report the quantification of malaria parasitemia in human RBCs in their normal physiological aqueous state...

PURPOSE: Early diagnosis of systemic inflammatory response syndrome is fundamentally important for an effective and a goal-directed therapy. Various inflammation biomarkers have been used in clinical and experimental practice. However, a definitive diagnostic tool for an early detection of systemic inflammation remains to be identified. Acetylcholine (Ach) has been shown to play an important role in the inflammatory response. Serum cholinesterase (butyrylcholinesterase [BChE]) is the major Ach hydrolyzing enzyme in blood...

BACKGROUND Selective immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency is the most common inherited immunodeficiency disorder worldwide. An early diagnosis is advocated because of the increased risk of infections, autoimmune diseases, and allergic reactions. We investigated the usefulness of a rapid point-of-care test in detecting for IgA deficiency in a population with a previously unknown prevalence. MATERIAL AND METHODS Altogether, 1000 children aged 11-13 years from randomly selected Lithuanian schools were enrolled. A point-of-care test with a fingertip sample was used to screen for the presence of IgA deficiency in children whose parents gave consent...

PURPOSE: To explore the impacts that structuring of electronic health records (EHRs) has had from the perspective of secondary use of patient data as reflected in currently published literature. This paper presents the results of a systematic literature review aimed at answering the following questions; (1) what are the common methods of structuring patient data to serve secondary use purposes; (2) what are the common methods of evaluating patient data structuring in the secondary use context, and (3) what impacts or outcomes of EHR structuring have been reported from the secondary use perspective...

Background: The purpose of this study was to use a propensity score-matched analysis to investigate the association between the Osteoporosis Self-Assessment Tool for Asians (OSTA) scores and clinical outcomes of patients with isolated moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods: The study population comprised 7855 patients aged ≥40 years who were hospitalized for treatment of isolated moderate and severe TBI (an Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) ≥3 points only in the head and not in other regions of the body) between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2014...

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus contributes significantly to the burden of disease in South Africa (SA). Monitoring of glycaemic control with glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) is recommended, even though current laboratory-based testing does not support immediate clinical decision-making. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the costs and consequences for quality of care by introducing point-of-care (POC) testing for HbA1c for patients with type 2 diabetes at community health centres in Cape Town, SA...

New miniaturised microfluidic biofilter (BF) devices based on silicon micropillars have been developed and tested regarding their ability to extract HBV (Hepatitis B Virus) bacterial DNA from biological sample solutions. The device is composed of a silicon microchannel in which the pillars are distributed at the bottom surface. The extracted DNA solutions were analysed by real time PCR amplification and the biofilter performance was evaluated. The results obtained show that the DNA binding to the biofilters and the elution efficiency strictly depend on the pillars' geometrical dimensions and increase proportionally with the surface/volume ratio...

Shigella spp., the etiological agent of shigellosis or "bacillary dysentery," are responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality in excess of a million deaths globally per year. Although PCR-based techniques (such as PCR-based dipstick biosensors) have been used for the molecular diagnosis of infectious disease, these assays were restricted due to the need for a sophisticated thermal cycling apparatus to denature target templates. To facilitate simple and rapid detection of target pathogens, we successfully devised an inexpensive, reliable and nearly instrument-free molecular technique, which incorporates multiple cross displacement amplification (MCDA) combined with a newly designed lateral flow biosensor (LFB) for visual, sensitive and specific detection of Shigella...

We report a versatile approach for the colorimetric assay of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity based on the distinctive metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) absorption properties of Fe(II)-phenanthroline reporter. In the presence of ALP, the applied substrate ascorbic acid 2-phosphate is enzymatically hydrolyzed to produce ascorbic acid, which then reduces Fe(3+) to Fe(2+). The complexation of Fe(2+) with the bathophenanthroline disulfonate (BPS) ligand generates a blood-red Fe(BPS)3(4-) reporter, which is characterized by an intense MLCT absorption band at 535 nm in the visible range...

OBJECTIVES: Long bone fractures (LBFs) are among the most frequent traumatic injuries seen in emergency departments. Reduction and immobilization is the most common form of treatment for displaced fractures. Point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) is a promising technique for diagnosing LBFs and assessing the success of reduction attempts. This article offers a comprehensive review of the use of PoCUS for the diagnosis and reduction of LBFs. Data source MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched through July 19, 2015...

BACKGROUND: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is increasingly applied for aortic stenosis in elderly patients with impaired mobility and reduced quality of life. These patients may particularly benefit from postinterventional exercise programs, but no randomized study has evaluated the safety and efficacy of exercise in this population. METHODS: In a prospective pilot study, 30 patients after TAVI (mean age, 81±6 years, 44% female, 83±34 days postintervention) were randomly allocated 1:1 to a training group (TG) performing 8 weeks of supervised combined endurance and resistance exercise or to usual care...

BACKGROUND: An important challenge of the longitudinal analysis of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is the potential occurrence of a Response Shift (RS) effect. While the impact of RS effect on the longitudinal analysis of HRQOL has already been studied, few studies have been conducted on its impact on the determination of the Minimal Important Difference (MID). This study aims to investigate the impact of the RS effect on the determination of the MID over time for each scale of both EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 questionnaires in breast cancer patients...

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one of the most common etiological agents in hospital-acquired infections and food-borne illness. S. aureus toxins and virulence proteases often circulate in host blood vessels leading to life-threatening diseases. Standard identification approaches include bacterial culturing method, which takes several days. Other nucleic acid-based methods were expensive and required trained personnel. To surmount these limitations, a paper-based biosensor was developed. The sensing mechanism was based on the proteolytic activity of S...

BACKGROUND: Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) measures are used increasingly in clinical care. However, for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), scores lack a framework for interpretation of clinical severity, and minimally important differences (MID) have not been established, which are necessary to evaluate the importance of change. METHODS: We identified clinical severity thresholds for pediatric PROMIS measures of mobility, upper extremity function (UE), fatigue, and pain interference working with adolescents with JIA, parents of JIA patients, and clinicians, using a standard setting methodology modified from educational testing...